National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our students know and can do in various subjects.

Its major goals are to measure student achievement and report change in performance over time. NAEP provides results for states and the nation as a whole but does not provide scores for schools, classrooms, or individual students.

Participation in NAEP mathematics and reading in grades 4 and 8 is mandatory for states receiving Title I funds pursuant to federal law. Although NAEP is administered to a sample of schools in each state, most elementary and middle schools in Rhode Island participate in NAEP by virtue of our relatively small student population.

Elected officials, policymakers, educators, and other stakeholders all use NAEP results to develop ways to improve education and to confirm results on state assessments. Therefore, participation is vital before information about the performance of Rhode island students can be collected and shared.

2011 Science

Nation’s Report Card: The homepage of NAEP where educators, parents, policymakers, and students can find more information about the assessments.

NAEP Data Explorer (NDE): The NDE is a tool that allows users to explore NAEP data and analyze students’ academic performance in mathematics, reading, writing, science, and other subject areas. The tool also allows users to compare state results, observe trends over time, and display data using custom tables, charts, and maps.

NAEP Questions Tool (NQT): The NQT is a database of over 3,000 released questions from past NAEP assessments in all subject areas. Users can search for questions by grade level, difficulty, and item type. The tool also provides sample student responses, scoring guides, and performance data for individual questions.

Item Maps: NAEP Item Maps illustrate the knowledge and skills demonstrated by students performing at different NAEP performance levels. The Item Maps answer the question, “What does it mean for students to be at Basic, Proficient, or Advanced in terms of what they know and can do?”

What is NAEP?
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “The Nation’s Report Card,” is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our students know and can do in various subjects. NAEP provides an essential measurement of student achievement in the United States and reports results for all 50 states and selected urban districts at grades 4 and 8 in reading and mathematics.

How are schools selected for NAEP?
NAEP is given in a sample of schools whose students reflect the varying demographics of a specific jurisdiction, be it the nation, a state, or a district. The selection process for schools uses a stratified random sampling design to create a list from which the schools are sampled. This list considers specific criteria such as school location, demographic composition, and a prior measure of achievement to group schools so that a representative sample of students can be drawn.

Why are some schools selected more frequently than others?
If a school is chosen more frequently than others for the NAEP state sample, it is generally because its enrollment constitutes a relatively large proportion of the state’s student population. The probability of a school being selected is calculated based on the size of its enrollment in relation to the size of the state’s student population. Therefore, schools with large enrollments will find that they are selected more frequently than smaller ones. Irrespective of this process, however, every eligible student in the state has the same probability of being selected for NAEP.
for more information about NAEP’s sampling design, you may refer to this Fact Sheet [PDF, 1.2MB]

If selected, are students required to participate in NAEP?
No. NAEP is voluntary for students, although participation remains mandatory for selected public schools in Rhode Island per state law. Given that stakeholders across the education spectrum rely on NAEP results to guide their decisions at all levels, it is important that all selected students participate so that results are accurate and reliable for all subjects and grades.

How long does the NAEP Assessment take to complete?
Each student spends up to 90 minutes for the entire administration, which includes taking a background questionnaire on students’ educational experiences. Some specialized assessments, such as the hands-on science tasks or computer-based assessments, may require up to 120 minutes to complete.

Do students with disabilities and English Language Learners participate in NAEP?
Yes. It is important for NAEP to assess as many selected students as possible. Therefore, NAEP’s policy is to appropriately include and assess all students, including students with disabilities and English language learners. Special-needs students use the same accommodations in NAEP assessments that they use in their usual classroom testing, with very few exceptions. Some of these accommodations include large-print books, extended time, oral reading of directions, and the use of an aide for transcribing responses. For English language learners, the most common accommodation is extended time to answer questions.

Do students and schools receive a score for their performance on NAEP?
No. NAEP only reports results at the state-level and for selected urban districts. Results are, however, disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, SD/ELL status, and participation in the National School Lunch Program.